Autumn is in full swing, the leaves are starting to change beautiful shades of reds and yellows and the shops all have Christmas produce on the shelves… which means it’s just about the right time to start thinking about bunking down for the winter’s long, dark evenings and spending more time at home with friends and family.

One of the biggest trends for interior design this year is soft lighting - and this is very welcome news for those, in particular, enjoy changing the look and feel of their living spaces season by season.

It can prove to be quite a costly endeavour to change your home decor three months or so, but it’s relatively easy to change your lighting options at home and doing so can actually make a huge difference to the atmosphere in individual rooms.

Retro styles are proving very popular at the moment, while metallics are still hugely in favour where interior design is concerned - a look that shows no real sign of stopping, so keep an eye out for pieces in the likes of brass, copper and bronze.

One of the best ways to create ambience at home is by layering your lighting up using different sources at different heights throughout the space. Bear the size and shape of the room in mind when designing a lighting scheme as there are ways in which you can enhance it through clever use of lights.

For example, if you feel cursed with a slightly small living room at home, you can make it feel bigger by using uplighting. Those of you with bigger-than-average rooms can make them feel cosier as the nights draw in by clustering your lights in various places around and about.

Another top trend emerging this autumn is natural textures and, again, this is easy to achieve if you focus on your lighting system. You could easily make some interesting interior design choices when it comes to lampshades, looking for different materials and even incandescent lamps to help you get the look just right. Glass is also proving very popular at the moment, so a round glass lampshade might not go amiss, either.

Also, spare a thought for the type of specialist light bulbs you might like to use once you’ve decided on how best to revamp your lighting for autumn. Consider how bright you want the room to be, what kind of ambiance you’re trying to achieve and if you want to prioritise energy efficiency.

Once you’ve made a few decisions and done a bit of planning and research, you can get on with the fun of redecorating! Have a happy autumn!

Check out even more autumnal decorating ideas over on Lux Deco now.